The Student Technology Integration course is a hands on study of technology integration in an educational context. Students will be required to assess problem sets throughout the day and define the best approach to addressing or solving the problem. In addition to solving problems for students and teachers, students will be required to complete and maintain several running projects that address problems or solutions in educational technology integration. The course also asks students to have a prior understanding of Apple OS, Microsoft Windows OS, and the iPad iOS.
Welcome to APS Help Desk. This course will examine various problems and needs throughout Andover High School. This semester, we will not be waiting around for problems to come to us, we will be finding them and addressing them.
During the course semester students will not only be helping, but creating, curating, and organizing information and content for the faculty and students. This may come in the form of a blog that students manage for a department. Students may be building an iBook resource companion for one of their teachers. Students also may be building a set of instructional videos and books for the school to use. This course will elicit and require skills that are relevant to most professions.
Help Desk Opportunities for Faculty and Staff
1. Help Desk Tutorials
During the second semester teachers can schedule time during their free periods and come down to help desk for a one-on-one tutorial. This can be on a specific application that there want to learn more about or just an overview of the iPad or computer. Teachers will be matched with a help desk student. You can sign up for help desk tutorials here. This feature is also open to students. If teachers would like your class to learn how to use an application before starting a project, the help desk can assist with this as well.
2. Share and Connect (Primarily for the teachers, but you may be asked to help with organizing and teaching this platform) I want to start highlighting the amazing work you and your students have been doing over the past semester on our blog. If you have a lesson that you designed that you are proud of along with student work that came out of that project, please share a short write up of the lesson and links to any student work.
3. In class assistance
If you would like help desk students to help with a lesson or setup equipment for a lesson you are conducting in class you can sign up for that time here. This student will be scheduled to meet with you during your period for as long as you need him or her.
4.Help Desk on Twitter
If you are using the Twitter you can now access help desk by using the hashtag #APShelpdesk This will give us a quick method of responding to your issue immediately.
5. The APS Resource Wiki (Primarily for the teachers, but you may be asked to help with organizing and teaching this platform)
Think of it as a digital, communal file cabinet.
Help Desk Pathways
Bloggers
Bloggers will be responsible for authoring and maintaining a blog for departments, teachers, and help desk. We will be creating a comprehensive student help desk blog that must be updated daily. Each day there should be new content populating on the site, therefore you will need to find and create information to post. This can come in the form of a weekly podcast, interviews, original posts, and reaction posts to current events regarding technology, or short documentaries that you create on specific subjects. Regardless of the subject, this site should be flourishing with new content each day.
APS Tech Squad trainers
The Tech Squad Trainers will be responsible for deconstructing daily problems with the technology at the school. This job will require an expertise in a variety of applications or the willingness to learn new application. Also, this path of the course will require competency in Apple iLife and iWork programs (iPhoto, iMovie, Pages, Numbers, etc.). Participants will be giving one-on-one tutorials to teachers, staff and students. Also, you may be required to enter a classroom and present an overview of an application before the teacher uses it with his or her class. When you are not training, you will be putting together tutorial videos, scripts, and iBooks.
App Developer Course
The App Developer course will be the most challenging section of the course, but potentially, the most rewarding. Participants will be taking the Stanford University iPad and iPhone App developer course via their iPad and iTunesU. This course will be very challenging and time consuming. Plus, you should already have an understanding of some programming but it is not required.
Choose your own adventure
You also have the opportunity to propose a pathway for second semester. In your proposal you must define your goals, objectives, resources needed, and hurdles you may encounter along the way. I would also like you to detail the impact you expect your pathway to have on Andover High School.
Tasks and Assignments
Help Desk Journal
Regardless of the course path you choose, you will document your productivity each day via a Google Doc journal. At the end of each class or each night you will post your progress for the day. Note, that I will view the timestamp for each daily post, so this is not something you should cram together Friday afternoon. Also, this is not simply busy work, but a running dialogue of your help desk progress. On occasion, I will not be in class and helping with a problem so you must maintain productivity and transparency.
Each post should include what you accomplished for the day, who you helped, or what you learned. Depending on which path you take and what you accomplish for the day your post may come in the form of a link, video, or a brief blurb. It could also come in the form of a problem you are having and your attempt to reconcile that problem. Also, there may be a point in the course where you feel that you have to do some work or study quickly for a test. This is fine on occasion, but do not turn help desk into a study hall. If you abuse this opportunity, your grade will suffer.
Help Desk Meetings
We will conduct Monday and Friday meetings to check in on how things are going. Most of the time you will be working independently throughout this course so this will be our time to check in with each other and address any questions.
Grading:
Participation 50% – Daily work, G-Doc journal, feedback
Content 50% – What you produce – blog, tutorials, app, videos, podcasts
